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McLaren MP4-12C on Top Gear
McLaren MP4-12C on Top Gear - Click above to watch the video after the jump

Ford versus Chevrolet. Porsche 911 vs Nissan GT-R. Audi versus Peugeot. The car business is full of rivalries, but few are as competitive as Ferrari versus McLaren.

The two outfits have been at each other's throats for decades around the grand prix circuit. But as tight as the competition is between the two in Formula One, and as many comparisons as we've seen McLaren celebrates Power Lap time between the Ferrari F40 and the McLaren F1 of yore and lore, where it's really come to a head is with their latest production supercars: the 458 Italia and the MP4-12C.

With their 17th series now in full swing, the blokes over at the BBC's Top Gear put the two on their famous test track, and guess which came out ahead? Sorry to ruin the surprise, ladies and gents, but it's the McLaren, setting the second-fastest time in the program's history - beating out the likes of the Bugatti Veyron and Koenigsegg CCX and coming in just behind the superlight Ariel Atom V8 500. And with a 1:16.2 lap time, it thoroughly trounced the 458's 1:19.1 in the process.

It's surely a cause for celebration - in Woking, at least... less so in Maranello. Follow the jump to watch Jeremy Clarkson introduce the epic showdown in the grandest of style.

Continue reading McLaren MP4-12C celebrates second-quickest Power Lap time on Top Gear

McLaren MP4-12C celebrates second-quickest Power Lap time on Top Gear originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Jul 2011 12:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sweet Lord, how we do love progress! Cars just keep on getting faster and faster. Unfortunately drivers aren't getting any better - as evidenced by the seemingly endless stream of supercars crashing into unforgiving immovable objects - but leave it to Top Gear's anonymous pilot extraordinaire (all we know is he's called The Stig) to show the way.

The Top Gear lap record has been broken again. The new king of the Power Lap board: the Ascari A10. On this week's show, The Stig coerced the British supercar around the show's private test track in a scant 1:17.3, beating the previous record-holder, the Koenigsegg CCX (complete with special Top Gear rear wing), by three tenths of a second. The A10's more "civilized" brother, the KZ1, took a more leisurely 1:20.7 (still good enough to best the likes of the Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, Lamborghini Murcielago and Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, to name just a few).

Although the Ascari may be king today, it has to watch out for potential usurpers who have some serious gripes: the Caparo T1 posted an even faster time than the Ascari (much faster, actually), but was disqualified on a technicality. Meanwhile the Ultima GTR, in an unsanctioned (read: non-televised) test, lapped the track four and a half seconds faster than the Ascari, too. Should Top Gear give either (or better yet, both) a proper run by the books, the A10's reign could be short-lived. But in the meantime, the Koenig is dead, long like the king.

Jump for the Top Ten Top Gear Top Super Cars Lap Times.

[Source: Top Gear]

Continue reading Unseating Koenigsegg: Ascari A10 sets new Top Gear lap record

Unseating Koenigsegg: Ascari A10 sets new Top Gear lap record originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jeremy Clarkson of Top Gear fame recently got some seat time in a Chevy Corvette Z06 and was largely impressed with General Motor's best Vette effort to date. In this video Clarkson races the Z06 against the gasoline it runs on (after igniting a strip of it, of course) and leaves kilometers of the car's rear rubber on the track. Aside from the Yankee accent of the sat nav voice, Clarkson felt it was one of the most un-American American cars he'd ever driven, and it costs nearly 100,000 pounds less than the virtually similar Ferrari 575. In the hands of the Stig the Z06 ranked 12th on the Top Gear Power Lap list with a lap time of 1:22.40, which puts it ahead of the Lamborghini Murcielago and Pagani Zonda. Wait'll they drive the Blue Devil!

Thanks Ed for tip!

[Source: YouTube and BBC]

Top Gear tests Corvette Zed-06 originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 17 May 2006 12:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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